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I feel like I write this every year but Congress should pass a budget.  It's the core responsibility of Congress and every year we have this useless brinksmanship.  Yes, we should cut spending as the national debt tops $33 trillion but those kind of arguments should be done months before zero hour.  Reason: "Shut Up Already About John Fetterman's Slob Chic - The Senate is an incompetent laughingstock regardless of what its members wear."

As the Pew Research Center notes, since fiscal 1997, "Congress has never passed more than five of its 12 regular appropriations bills on time. Usually, it's done considerably less than that: In 11 of the past 13 fiscal years, for instance, lawmakers have not passed a single spending bill by Oct. 1″ (emphasis in original). That will almost certainly hold true for this fiscal 2024, alas.

The inability to get anything done helps to explain the history of government shutdowns, including the most recent—and longest—one, which started in December 2018 and carried over into the next year. Absent some probable last-minute deal making, the next one is due to start on Sunday.

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Judging by their record when it comes to the budget process, it's too much to expect that members of the "world's greatest deliberative body" will do their jobs, much less actually cut spending, reduce the size and scope of government, or even forego alleged bribes. But at least there is one less distraction when it comes to holding them accountable for record-high levels of debt.

Here we go: National Debt Clock.  Debt per American is closing in on six figures.